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Mississippi AG briefs due Aug 14 in same-sex divorce case

Associated Press
7:39 a.m. CDT August 4, 2014

Lauren Czekala-Chatham, right, shows off a photograph of herself and partner Dawn Jefferies, left, at home in Hernando, Miss. Czekala-Chatham hopes Mississippi will recognize her same sex marriage performed in California, so she can get divorced.(Photo: Rogelio V. Solis/AP)

The state Attorney General's Office has until Aug. 14 to file briefs in a case involving a DeSoto County woman who wants Mississippi to recognize her same-sex marriage in order to grant a divorce.

Lauren Czekala-Chatham has appealed a decision by DeSoto County Chancery Judge Mitchell Lundy Jr. that the Mississippi Constitution and statutes prevented him from taking action. Czekala-Chatham appealed to the Mississippi Supreme Court.

Czekala-Chatham and Dana Ann Melancon got married in San Francisco in 2008. They bought a house together in Mississippi the following year, but their relationship soured.

They could get a divorce in California, but Czekala-Chatham says she shouldn't be treated differently than straight couples. Her lawyer has argued that Mississippi wouldn't recognize the divorce from California, which could leave their marital property in limbo.

Dawn Jefferies, right, speaks in Hernando, Miss., about the efforts Lauren Czekala-Chatham, left, has taken to get the state to recognize a same sex marriage performed in California, so she can now divorce that same partner she lived with as a couple in DeSoto County, until they separated in 2010.(Photo: Rogelio V. Solis/AP)